The AfDB approves Morocco’s new country strategy for the period 2024-2029
Hibapress
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group approved Morocco’s country strategy paper (CSP) for the period 2024-2029.
This new roadmap will serve the priorities of the Kingdom’s new development model (NMD) for 2035 and will contribute to strengthening the competitiveness and resilience of the Moroccan economy, indicates the ADB in a press release published on the occasion of its 2024 Annual Meetings which are being held from May 27 to 31 in Nairobi.
It is also about supporting strong and sustainable growth and consolidating the dynamic of economic and social inclusion, adds the same source.
“This new strategy sets the course, the objectives and the pace of our investments over the next five years in the Kingdom, our first partner on the continent with more than 12 billion euros mobilized in strategic sectors,” explained Achraf Tarsim, the ADB country manager for Morocco, cited in the press release.
According to Mr. Tarsim, the Kingdom, a country which provides proof that with vision, capacities and resources, emergence can become a reality, is a source of inspiration, noting that “with this new strategy, our ambition is to move to the next level to strengthen the excellent partnership that has united us for almost 60 years.”
This roadmap defines two priorities which consist of strengthening inclusive growth through skills development, employability and entrepreneurship and consolidating, through the deployment of sustainable infrastructure, the resilience of the economy to exogenous shocks.
According to the ADB, this new DSP innovates in particular through its “water-energy” nexus approach which will make it possible to develop more integrated projects to alleviate water stress and support strong and inclusive growth.
The result of broad consultations with public and private stakeholders, the new country strategy draws lessons from the previous CSP which helped to materialize the significant progress made by Morocco in terms of socio-economic development.
During the 2017-2023 period covered by the previous vision, the Bank mobilized nearly 3 billion euros. She was thus able to support Morocco’s efforts in strengthening access to drinking water and desalination, supporting the modernization of health infrastructure and broadening access to social coverage, and contributing to further developing the road, port and airport transport increasing mobility between regions and with the world while helping to accelerate the dynamic of advanced regionalization.
In terms of results over the period 2017-2023, the AfDB contributed to securing access to drinking water for five million inhabitants and to extending health insurance coverage from 62% in 2017 to 100% in 2023.
More broadly, this vision consolidated the Kingdom’s industrial base by supporting the development of small and medium-sized businesses, particularly for export. It has contributed to increasing, through the development of renewable energies, solar generation capacity, thus guaranteeing the security of energy supply.
Morocco is a founding member of the ADB. Since 1978, the Bank has invested more than 12 billion euros in nearly 190 projects.
Its active portfolio includes 40 operations totaling €3.5 billion in the health, water, agriculture, transport, energy and financial sectors.
The 2024 AfDB Annual Meetings, whose official opening ceremony is scheduled for next Wednesday, are being held under the theme “Africa’s Transformation, the African Development Bank Group and Reform of the Global Financial Architecture “.
